Intentional + Intensive = Effective

As a therapist, my goal is to help you achieve meaningful results within a time frame that is consistent with your real-life demands.

People make it to therapy, when they realize that if they continue to avoid dealing with their problems, they are likely to lose what they value the most in their lives. Unfortunately, this realization becomes clear to people after many years of enduring emotional suffering.

It doesn’t really have to be this way, but people sometimes are hesitant to seek the help of a therapist for concerns about the duration of the treatment, and the cost associated with lengthy treatments. They are also doubtful about whether therapy would help them with their concerns.

As a therapist, I am committed to work with you in a way that aims to accelerate the process of therapy so that you can see results in a timely manner.

My INTENSional 6-week and 12-week therapy programs are aimed to help you when:

You are in the midst of a crisis and need to make important life decisions in a short period of time.

You are experiencing an unusual level of demands on your emotional resources and are feeling drained, unmotivated, exhausted, too anxious; or as a result of being under so much stress, you are have started to experience physical symptoms.

You have recently experienced a loss of a relationship, a separation from your family, or are experiencing difficulty adjusting to living in a new culture.

You are living in the DC area for a short period of time and need support while you are here, or you want to work on a particular issue you are experiencing while you are here.

You are totally new to therapy and even a bit sceptic, but are willing to give it a try to see if it might be helpful in the long run.

If engaging in a time-limited (6 week or 12 week) therapy program is not in your best interest, you can benefit from my Short-Term therapy services. My main commitment is to provide you with therapy that is effective.

This type of therapy is likely to be helpful to you if:

You have had a long-standing history of depression, or anxiety.

You have experienced significant problems with emotional and physical intimacy in relationships.

You have trouble taking the “driver seat” in your life, or have the tendency to go along with others, leading later to resentment in your relationships.

You have a history of engaging in self-sabotage when working towards a goal.

HOW DO I, AS YOUR THERAPIST, MAKE SURE THAT THERAPY WILL BE TIME-EFFECTIVE?

The first step in making sure that therapy will be time-effective is through a very careful consultation session, which is called “trial therapy” session. This trail therapy session is an opportunity also for you to experience immediately how WE work TOGETHER. From the beginning we will focus on the problem you are wanting help with, and after we agree on your goals for therapy we start working right away. I believe it is very important that clients feel helped by therapy from the beginning.

Once we get started you will notice that therapy with me is intentional, intensive, and compassionate.

INTENTIONAL: Most of us, would really prefer to be talking about the weather or the last book we read, rather than facing the pain that we are feeling. We will work together to help you do the work you came here to do.

INTENSIVE: Your courage and willingness to face reality will likely evoke intense, painful feelings. Most people seek therapy because they want someone who can bear the pain with them, and I am here with you all the way. We have been socialized in our families to fear certain kinds of emotional experiences. However, feelings are not our enemies. The defenses that we use to deal or not deal with our intense feelings are usually the ones that create trouble in our lives. With most of my clients, we work together on identifying those defenses that no longer do their job of protecting you, and to free you up so that you can give voice to the healthy desires that defenses usually hide.

COMPASSIONATE: I keep in mind the person who is hiding behind the wall of defense and unhealthy habits and that frequently causes suffering. I strive to join forces with that part of you that is trying to move forward in life, and most importantly, we will help you see that side of you that sometimes can be quite elusive.

TRACKING YOUR PROGRESS

For us to know if therapy is being helpful to you, we have to be able to track your progress. For this reason, I rely on feedback from you, from my review of our sessions, and data from questionnaires that help to track changes over time. These processes that we will have in place will allow us to gather data about your progress, and most importantly, it would help us to be alert to potential roadblocks in your progress that might not be very evident otherwise. If we are not seeing progress, we can correct the course of the treatment in a timely manner.

WHAT TO DO NEXT?

If you are feeling ready to do the hard work that therapy requires, the first step is to set up a free 15 minute-phone consultation that would help me determine if you and I are likely to be able to work together towards your goals.

In the event that during our call it became clear that therapy with me will not likely be beneficial to you, or that I know of a therapy provider that would be a better fit for you depending on your problem or your goals, I will be happy to facilitate a referral to a trustworthy, outstanding provider in the DC community.